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Lupin Arroway
Lupin is a rogue/fighter and member of the Saints of Emon. He prefers to take chances wherever he can, much to the chagrin of his party, and specializes in deception, flair and close or medium-range combat. Description Appearance Lupin Rourke Arroway is a variant human male of a slim build with a small scruffy beard and medium-length dark, messy hair that he lets hang into his green eyes. He is usually dressed in weathered travelling clothes and a signature dark seafaring coat, and along his arms run various tattoos of serpents and patterns, and his chest reveals a wicked scar running diagonally across his chest. On his back is the symbol of the Jeweled Roger of the Black Mast pirates. Above his stomach is the tattoo of a howling monkey face, which he had done after declaring himself "the Monkey King." On his left shoulder is the tattoo of the Slayer's Take. All across his body are small scars from past encounters. Following his freedom from the clutches of the Veil, he bears a small scar from a crystal above his left eye, and has begun wearing his hair in a swept-back ponytail. Personality Lupin is clever but not smart by any means. Ever a pathological liar, he puts on the show of making himself appear smarter than he is, though while he never had any formal education. Lupin is an arrogant showboat who relies on luck entirely too much for his own good, having almost inexplicably survived several deadly encounters and almost died several times as well due to not thinking the situation through. This reckless behavior has put him at odds with several members of the party, especially Tannin. He almost relishes the chance to try his luck, and believes he has survived thus far for a reason. He behaves extremely impulsively, such as when he walked alone into an enemy embassy disguised as a member, simply for the sake of intelligence gathering, and excused this dangerous behavior as "being unsupervised." Always quick with a joke, Lupin enjoys a bit of levity to break up the monotony of mercenary work. When it comes time to be serious, however, he is just as quick to fight alongside his companions. While he is not afraid to cheat to assure victory, he is also a slave to his own impulses, and will occasionally act with "honor" or "fairness" at his own whims. He has something of a code of honor, believing it unnecessary to kill an unarmed or otherwise incapacitated opponent, and vehemently is opposed to most forms of torture and slavery, as he remembers his brief amount of time as a slave-pirate during his first few years under his captain. Lupin has always felt a strong sense of reverence for the Changebringer, having been born on her holy day and having been astoundingly lucky in the worst of situations. His faith has only grown stronger after claiming the Kiss of the Changebringer and learning that it was a gift to someone she loved, long ago. He cautiously hopes he can live up to this legend in his lifetime. Lupin has over time, found the world to be cruel and unfair, and developed something of a conscience towards the less fortunate, resenting unwarranted cruelty from others. Thus, he is slowly cultivating an idea that the Saints must work towards a better future than morally gray grunt work. Their recent quests for the Vestiges, and ultimately to liberate Emon and Tal'dorei from the growing threats of Dark Wyrms, demons, and various extraplanar threats has slowly been vindicating this idea that they are no longer simple sellswords. This has come to a head with the final fight in Carceri against Graz'zt, and being hailed as heroes. He has since returned to Kanko, with the new goal of becoming the greatest pirate lord of the Tempest Fang, and patrolling the Lucidian for dangerous pirates of a place he had heard of known as Darktow. Having renamed the Jewel of Emon as the Rothwell in honor of the young pirate boy he knew long ago, the next great chapter of his life was about to begin. Biography Background Lupin was born on New Dawn and raised in Stilben and in poverty by his drunkard father Maurice. Never far from trouble, Lupin had no formal education and at the age of 12 was taken by the loan shark and slaver Gerard Godfrey, as payment for Maurice's gambling debts. Less than a week later, Lupin was sold to the Black Mast as cannon fodder aboard the Black Mast ship the Domino. Over the next decade, Lupin bonded with the half-orc quartermaster, Hilgra Adima, and the captain of his ship, Blaine Hitch. Eventually, Lupin became a skilled pirate and boatswain, his skills catching the eyes of the captain and lord of the Black Mast, Braddick Shoal. Lupin and several other skilled pirates were gathered up by Shoal himself and sent out to find a specific treasure at several locations of interest. On a small lonely island temple, he found the item that matched Shoal's description; a small silver chest, finely decorated. Bringing the chest back to Shoal, Lupin handed over the chest and was immediately stabbed in the chest before he could react, his lifeless body set adrift in the ocean. Lupin found himself brought back to life by a mysterious tiefling woman on the shores of Tal'dorei. Without another word, he headed inland, wandering as far from the ocean as he could get and slowly lost himself in alcohol and gambling over the course of three years until his fateful meeting with a certain tabaxi in a tavern. From here, he would join with the mercenary group that would become the Saints. Season 1 Lupin and the Saints have gone on numerous adventures, their clashes with the White Helix earning something of a reputation in Emon, though their destruction of the royal family tomb has earned them a slightly less-than-heroic public image. In their travels to Stilben, Lupin took his revenge against the slaver Gerard Godfrey and the pirate lord Braddick Shoal, killing them both and finally ending his years-long revenge quest. However, there are certain parts of his past he still wishes to unlock, though he has little faith that this truth will ever come to him. In his travels with the Saints, Lupin has experienced far more adventure than he ever had before, and has experienced a calling to something larger than himself, a thing he has desired for a long time. With Tal'dorei in peril from the Veil and the Saints being quite possibly the only thing able to stop them, their new quest to find the Vestiges to become strong enough to defeat them has filled his heart with a spirit of adventure unlike any he has ever felt before. Season 2 The Saints of Emon have found half the Vestiges, and having recently slain a dragon, have clearly grown in personal power. Their relationship having grown more akin to friendship than a professional one, Lupin is becoming increasingly relaxed around the party, though he feels almost spiteful about the idea of calling it "friendship" if only to annoy the overly-wholesome Red. During a large-scale assault on the Veil's headquarters in Vasselheim, Lupin was knocked unconscious and captured by several Veil agents after a misguided attempt to help Tannin. After being teleported to Emon and charmed by Alaxar, Lupin has joined the Veil, responding to a telepathic message sent by Tannin threatening the Saints with death if they do not surrender themselves. Season 3 Lupin's time with the Veil was testy, as he was under the sway by crystal dragons and his mind was twisted to participate in a false crusade against his former allies, even tricking them into an ambush at Tall Zappo Zappo after his men had taken the Vestige from it, nearly killing Holly and Iselda. Eventually, he was tracked down using Creek's Scrying spell to the Veil's siege on Westruun, and ambushed by the Saints. After being trapped and made nearly helpless using a Wall of Force by Tannin, Lupin was knocked unconscious and cured by Creek's Greater Restoration, and restored to his ranks within the group after a heartfelt reunion and a goodbye to Creek, who happily bounced off to defend the temple of Sarenrae. His quest to defeat the Alaxar and the Veil now having become quite personal, he turns his eyes to the future, and to correct himself in his past failings, swearing to never allow himself to fall to evil again, and renewing his promise to destroy the Veil. After the Saints recovered from their battle, Lupin cleaned himself up a bit and told the Saints everything he knew of the Veil's battle plans regarding the siege of Westruun, and a planned siege of Kanko. Following a crafty plan involving Holly and Sovelis disguised as Lupin's Veil handlers, the Saints launched a surprise assault of the Veil's general, Gareth Mornguard "the Lichbreaker." This commander had been hailed by other Veil officers as being one of their strongest forces, but was killed almost instantly by a surprise attack from Iselda and the rest of the party. This was quickly followed by a hasty retreat. Following this, the Saints travelled to Vesrah and then Kanko, and engaged the Veil in a massive assault on the island. During the battle, the gargantuan blue dragon Vuregos attacked Orchalion, the opal dragon who stole Felrinn's identity, with a massive bolt of lightning. Lupin channeled the last bit of power from the Kiss of the Changebringer, and managed to dodge the deadly attack completely, exalting the Vestige. Immediately after this, he climbed up onto the Veil dragon's back and struck the killing blow, dismounting and stealing a tooth as a trophy before the corpse was carried off by Vorugal. The Saints later found themselves in Riverrun after learning Ixrattu Khar's plans to do something involving Tannin and his family, only to learn that Maurice had come to Riverrun and was drunkenly berating Tannin's father, Cogul. Soon after, Lupin learned that Tannin's mother, Thelma, was also his mother. After sending off his father and helping Tannin rescue Thelma from Ixrattu's grasp and killing the obsessed vampire, he came clean to Tannin about their shared blood, and established a new, stronger bond of brotherhood. Additionally, Lupin asked Iselda about her true nature following Tharion's remark about "her people." She responded by opening up about herself, and revealed her name as Ti, and her true form, albeit briefly. This immense display of trust has elevated her status in his eyes as a highly trustworthy ally and a true friend. Following this, the Saints travelled to Emon for their final battle with Alaxar. After interrupting his address, Lupin and the Saints managed to get the current Sovereign of Tal'dorei away from the battle and slay Alaxar as he retreated into a portal into the treasure horde the Saints had seen below the Ashen Gorge, next to the corpse of his brother who had cursed Frovroth several months ago. With all the Saints fighting together, Tannin scored the final blow to slay Alaxar, rending his head form his body and ending his final quest for revenge. Afterwards, Lupin looted the massive pile of treasure that lay in the dragon vault, discovering a magical pirate's coat of an almost alien design, on a skeleton with an elongated skull. After Tannin cast Speak With Dead on the corpse and on the head of Braddick Shoal, Lupin learned this was Shoal's brother, and he had been searching for his brother's treasure horde in order to return from exile to the githyanki. Happy he had succeeded in Shoal's ultimate quest, Lupin happily continued plundering the vault before following his party into a portal activated by the statue, leading to Carceri to rescue the good souls trapped within. Facing many strange and deadly horrors inside, the Saints managed to save their topaz dragon friend Tharion before discovering a strange deck of cards. Red drew one of these, and summoned the sword of her father, Graz'tchar. Shortly into a battle with several powerful demons, Graz'zt himself was summoned by Red under the influence of the weapon, and the Saints fought their deadliest foe yet. Together, they wore him down before Red was teleported with Graz'zt away. She appeared soon after, having defeated him in a one-on-one fight, though fell dead. Thanks to the help of a small gnome cleric who had been fighting a massive dracolich in another room, and some kind words by some of the party, Red was brought back to life, and the party purified the cursed weapon in the River Styx before departing with the heroes who had helped them, Vox Machina. Following a joyous feast, and suffering the effects of the curses of Carceri (which included his hair falling out for a few weeks) and drinking a shrinking potion offered to him by an extremely charismatic gnome bard, Lupin snuck a few letters of farewell and well-wishes into the packs of his party members as they all went their separate ways, and returned to Kanko. After proposing to Garette and becoming the 5th pirate lord of the Tempest Fang, he bought a mansion and met his party again in one year's time to celebrate. After some catching up, they all drew from the magic deck they had found, with Tannin's soul vanishing into the Wand of Athenium and disappearing. Drawing from the deck to hopefully retrieve his soul, he witnessed a knightlike figure in platemail appear next to him, claiming loyalty to him. Relationships The Saints Ti Bearing a certain elegance and style and routinely demonstrating hidden depths, Lupin finds Iselda very interesting. As the most even-tempered and level-headed of the group, Iselda admirably handles all matters of discourse within the party, though in a standoffish and cold manner sometimes. Her deadly skill with bows is unmatched, and he has often found himself in awe at her brutal efficiency in combat. After recent events of learning her true name and seeing her true form after asking privately about her, he now trusts her immensely and sees her as a real friend, a sense of connection that grew stronger after learning her race was made by his goddess, Avandra. Now that she has revealed her true form to the party, he feels she has finally come around to them, and wishes her good luck in her future adventures, wherever they may lead. Sovelis The odd firbolg was initially hostile to Lupin, though this is at least partially understandable, given the circumstances. He wields Carnelion's Might in place of Frovroth, and therefore holds some degree of trust from the rest of the party, which he has now earned in Lupin's eyes after his great prowess in battle and defense of the party during the fight against the Veil. His exaltation of the item as a force of natural good has proven his good intentions in his eyes. He cannot help but poke fun at him wherever he can, as he did with Frovroth in the past. He is not his replacement, however, and the loss of an ally still weighs heavily on his heart. Sovelis seemed to enjoy the occasional prank or lighthearted joke on Lupin, a sentiment he echoed in kind. He wished their time together could have lasted longer, but was happy to have known him as long as he did, and trusts the Earth Ashari to do some good in the world. Seraphina The girl named Seraphina confuses Lupin beyond all belief. Though he will never admit it, he did not realize she was a girl in disguise until the entire party already knew, and this embarrasses him. While her secrets about her nature made her seem untrustworthy at first, Lupin now understands that she truly means well for the group, and considers them as trustworthy friends and allies. While her non-stop sunny demeanor was grating at first, Lupin has come to appreciate that about her, though not without a healthy dose of teasing. "Red" seems only slightly different, apparently less invasive of other people's personal space. After witnessing Seraphina destroy her father in Carceri using the cursed sword and then die, he felt immense guilt at how he had not treated her well, and was overjoyed at her resurrection. After teaching her some of what he knew about fighting with weapons like the greatsword, the two went separate ways, much more amicably than before. He now feels an incredible amount of respect for the young demonslayer. Tannin At first, Lupin found Tannin's desire for order and caution regarding magical objects tedious, though he somewhat respects his wishes as he realizes the potential danger in this force he only dimly understands, something that Tannin is very well-versed in. He has seen Tannin do amazing things, and respects him and the other Saints immensely for their single-minded assistance in his fight with Shoal, feeling compelled to return the favor by fighting the Veil. Tannin's resolute and vehement hatred of the Veil is understandable, and has notably lit a fire under the Saints, and given them a new enemy to fight. Lupin enjoys teasing and pulling the occasional prank on Tannin, as the two are almost polar opposites. This has now become apparent why, after the discovery of their shared blood. After learning that Tannin is his half-brother, he has found himself with a sense of fulfillment, especially after seeing him land the killing blow on the hated Alaxar. He was happy to learn that, following the end of their adventure, his brother had opened his own magic school in Emon, and horrified to see his soul get sucked out by the magic cards they had found. Holly Holly-Grows-by-Water was the first member of the Saints Lupin met, and the one he associates with his salvation and foray into mercenary work. Thus, he trusts Holly the most out of any member of the group, and gets along splendidly with them. Of all the members, Lupin feels the most relaxed around Holly, likely due to their common interests in drinking, partying, and their common love for performance and pleasing an eager crowd. After fighting the "Chained Duke" and the alhoon controlling it, Holly seems to have become a very special kind of tabaxi, now possessing multi-colored fur and several tails. During a brief bit of respite, the two of them took some suude to relax and passed out for several hours, waking up on a dock together and immediately assumed they had become intimate. This became a point of hilarious awkwardness between the two that would haunt them for the rest of their adventure. Holly had always been the one Lupin identified the most with in the party, and he was ecstatic to hear the tabaxi had officially made House Furei in Marquet, as well as begun to adventure around the world with Hazir. He hopes they will see each other again someday. Former Party Members Frovroth Lupin bore some small ill will towards Frovroth, feeling he had been bullied by him often. However, he was deeply saddened to learn that Frovroth had not only died, but had died while he was gone, and blames himself slightly. He trusts the group's intuition in the new member they have selected, this strange firbolg named Sovelis. After learning from Seraphina's story that Frovroth's last words to the Saints were expressing that they were his friends, he feels a bit more at ease. Creek The chipper, older dwarf that seemed to be directly responsible for curing Lupin's gem curse also seemed to be trusted by the Saints to some degree, enough that Tannin stated he had earned his "place in the Saints," a remark that drew no dissent from the rest of the group. Creek seems to a trustworthy man, and his promise to help in times of need seemed sincere enough. He hopes his personal quest is successful, and hopes they will meet again some day. Allies Garette Cobb Lupin first met Garette during his first visit to Kanko during the Everline job at the start of their quest, and bonded with her over firearms and their shared desire to kill Shoal, who had taken her arm long ago. After accidentally making an insensitive remark about two arms and apologizing with a found necklace and some flowers, the two became close friends, later sharing an evening together during a return trip to Kanko. Following their fight with Alaxar and Graz'zt, Lupin found two matching rings in the treasure horde and proposed to Garette, retiring from adventuring for a short while. Blaine Hitch Lupin was truly "raised" by Blaine as a captain and father figure, and owes much of his experience in sailing and swordfighting to him, as well as Hilgra. After learning Blaine was forced by Shoal to kill Hilgra and the rest of the crew following a failed mutiny, Lupin told him he would never see him again in disgust. However, right before the fight with Alaxar, he used Tannin's Sending to tell him that he forgave him, and hoped to see him in Kanko one day, a message that was well received. Family Thelma Lupin only recently learned of the identity of his mother, and was shocked, even angry to learn of his half-brotherhood with Tannin at first. After seeing her death by Ixrattu, that anger and indignation gave way to bitter rage and relief when she was revived. While he distanced himself while Tannin spent quality time with his parents, he introduced himself to Thelma and Cogul. While they have not had much time to bond, he hopes to someday visit again and properly spend some time with his mother. Maurice Maurice is Lupin's father. A drunkard and wastrel by nature, Maurice never showed Lupin any semblance of real care or affection, and saw him as more of a hanger-on, and thus provided almost nothing for Lupin, leaving him primarily to fend for himself for most of his childhood. Maurice's assorted debts caught up with it, and he agreed to sell a twelve-year-old Lupin as a slave to the loan shark Gerard Godfrey. When the Saints had to travel to Stilben for business, Lupin immediately travelled to his old home to confront his father for his mistreatment, only to find him completely unrepentant. After a brief physical altercation with him, Lupin allowed him to flee, bitterly advising him to go to the slums of Emon to avoid the current loan sharks after him. After this, Lupin burned down his childhood home, signifying he had nothing to return to. After finding him again in Riverrun harassing Cogul, Lupin confronted him on his foul behavior, discovered the identity of his mother, and challenged him on his abandonment of fatherly responsibilities. After learning he was sold so that Maurice "wouldn't have to look at her face anymore," a remark that cut deeply. He has no desire to ever see him again. Character Information Quests Lupin's quest of the last few years was to get revenge on Godfrey and to kill Shoal, as well as to reclaim the treasure that was taken from him. Thus far, he has accomplished his greatest goals after killing Shoal, though the Amulet of Drassig claimed from his body has led to their new war against the Veil. Lupin has little in the way of new long-term goals, though his battles throughout Stilben have resulted in the loss of his birth father, his former captain Hitch, and has learned of the death of Hilgra Adima at the hands of Hitch and by extension, Shoal. Thus, he has no family left in this world, and exists alone, depressing him heavily. The closest thing he has to this would be the Saints themselves, and has begun to feel the weight of the world on his shoulders, though he chooses to hide this behind jokes and a confident facade. Lupin's newest goal is to transform the Saints into something more than just another mercenary group, as well as to find the Vestiges to fight the Veil and save Tal'dorei from their plan of conquest and destruction. This has seemingly been achieved following their defeat of Alaxar Orbelm, their ultimate adversary, and having noticed his comrades having grown much closer together. With the death of Ixrattu, however, he has lost his last connection to the strange woman who revived him following his death by Shoal two years prior. After defeating Alaxar, and the surprise foe of Graz'zt himself in the depths of Carceri, the Saints have been hailed as heroes in Emon, something that made Lupin's chest swell with pride. With all of his goals met and quests fulfilled, he returned to Kanko, with the new goal of becoming the greatest pirate lord the world had ever known. Character Information Character Sheet: = Notable Items Current Items * Kiss of the Changebringer * Leomund's Living Rope * Spitfire * The Rothwell * Frostbrand Rapier * Amulet of Drassig * Shoal's Chroma Pistol (taken from Shoal) * Corsair's Raiment (+1 leather armor, add Cha and Dex modifiers to AC.) * Sticky Fingerless Gloves * Hat of Disguise * Ring of Waterwalking * Goggles of Night * Earring of Whisper * Ring of Attunement Abilities Feats * Lucky * Dual-Wielding * Firearm Proficiency (given, not leveled) Rogue Abilities Class Features * Sneak Attack (5d6) * Thieves' Cant * Expertise (Deception and Stealth) * Cunning Action * Uncanny Dodge * Evasion Swashbuckler Abilities * Fancy Footwork * Rakish Audacity * Panache Fighter Abilities * Two-Weapon Fighting Style * Second Wind * Action Surge * Extra Attack * Battlemaster Maneuvers-DC 18 ** Precision Attack ** Trip Attack ** Disarming Attack Quotations * "This is how you go for the heart." (Lupin to Shoal before shooting him) * "So, since that throne is empty now... Does that make me the new Monkey King?" (Lupin to a possessed and disinterested former Ape-creature-monarch, shortly before claiming to be the Monkey King) * "Fuck this city, and everyone in it." (Lupin, on Westruun) * "Bite me." (last words to a vampire) Trivia * Lupin is named for the fictional gentleman thief character Arsène Lupin. * Lupin's attitude and general demeanor was based on Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop. Category:PCs